


Sugar, We're Going Down Swingin'

by dontpanicmuke



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Bullying, Homophobic Language, M/M, Romance, baseball AU, catcher!michael, pitcher!luke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-15 23:47:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14800253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontpanicmuke/pseuds/dontpanicmuke
Summary: Luke has just moved to a tiny town where everyone is living like it's the 1950s. He makes the baseball team at his new school and meets Michael, the catcher who been out since his freshman year. Luke starts to develop feelings for him, but his fear of coming out force him to bury them. Luke has to deal with his newfound crush and the weight of the team as they look to him, the pitcher, to take them to state this year.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello :) Ii's been awhile since I've written anything. recent events have sparked my motivation, and this was the outcome. hope you like.

Luke clutched the straps of his baseball bag tighter as he walked towards the field. His cleats made that scratchy sound on the concrete that he loved so much and found oddly satisfying. He’d moved to Springville a few weeks ago and just in time to try-out for the baseball team. He’d adjusted well enough, but Springville was just another racist, sexist, and homophobic small town in America. Just a few days before Luke had moved here, the local hardware store had kicked out a boy scout who was part of an organization that let girls and lgbt youth join. When Luke read the article on the car ride there he physically felt sick and asked his father to pull over so he could promptly throw up on the side of the road. He blamed it on car sickness, but that article stayed in the back of his mind for the ride back.

Luke was bisexual. He was comfortable enough with his sexuality. He’d come out to his parents recently and they’d been confused, but Luke was able to talk them through it without much of a hassle. They accepted it and moved on and Luke was so fucking grateful.

Now they were moving to one of the most homophobic areas in the entire country and Luke was now full of anxiety about what might happen. Of course his family had no choice in this matter. His father had found a job in the city near them, and his mother had snagged a job at the local high school where Luke was planning to attend because a teacher there was going on maternity leave. He’d talked to his parents about his issue with the town and they’d agreed to keep Luke’s sexuality a secret.

Now Luke was walking towards the baseball field with a horrible feeling in his stomach. He wasn’t even worried about making the team. Most small town high school teams aren’t very good and last year, the Springville High Griffins were eliminated in the first round of Districts. Luke was worried about the teammates he might get stuck with. He loved baseball, but he didn’t want it to be ruined by stuck-up white boys and toxic masculinity. He was also worried about making friends. He was a junior, so most of these kids already had three years to become close as a team. But he told himself that everything would be fine, maybe this school was a bit more progressive than the rest of the town.

But Luke’s hopes vanished when he reached the field and the first thing that he spotted was a bright red hat. The school colors were purple and gold so the hat could only mean one thing. Shit, I’m screwed. Luke thought. He let out a deep sigh and kept walking. 

He signed in with the assistant coach who gave him a paper with a number to clip to his shirt and set his stuff down with the rest. The nervousness came back when he took out his glove and hat and looked around for someone to partner with and realized that almost everyone already had a partner. He was saved from the possible embarrassment of just standing around awkwardly when the head coach called for a huddle. He jogged to meet up with the rest of the players and stood at the back since he was one of the tallest players there.

“Alright listen up kids,” The coach started, “I’m Coach Roy we’re gonna do a quick dynamic warm-up and a few drills to loosen up those arms.”

They lined up on the foul line and did a few stretches. Once they worked up a sweat, they paired off. Luke was saved from the embarrassment when another fellow player asked to be his partner. They started with a few short distance throws then worked their way away from each other. After a while the head coach called for another huddle.

“Okay, now the hard stuff starts. Since we’ve got a big group, we’re gonna split you up into two teams. One will be in the outfield, catching ground balls and fly balls from Eric,” he pointed to the assistant coach, ”And the rest of you you’re gonna be doing sprints,” There was a collective groan from the entire group, “Yeah I know, I know. It’s just the way it is boys.”

He started numbering them off and Luke unfortunately got stuck sprinting. It wasn’t too bad. They were asked to run through first base a couple of times while the student manager kept time and Coach Roy wrote down the time on clipboard. Luke wasn’t the fastest, but he was pretty quick. It was over quickly and soon he was in outfield catching fly balls.

It wasn’t until the very end when Luke finally got to do what he really wanted. Sure he was a pretty good outfielder and infielder, but what he was best at was pitching. Coach Roy separated the group based on position. Catchers and pitchers were paired off near the foul pole since infielders were using...well the infield. 

“Alright,” Coach Roy spoke up, “Andy, you’re with Michael, J-”

“But Coach, I’m already with Drake,” The kid next to Luke complained.

“I want this to be a gamelike situation. Michael’s already our primary catcher, and last year you were our starting pitcher-”

“I know, but just for today?” Andy begged.

Coach Roy just shrugged, “Fine. Michael you’re with the new kid. Catchers, gear up!”

A shorter, pale kid made eye contact with Luke for a second just to make sure he knew who he was paired up with. Luke nodded at him. He had green eyes and the tips of his hair that were sticking out of his baseball cap looked red, but he wasn’t sure, it could’ve been the sun. 

“Sorry about that, bro,” Andy lightly elbowed him in the arm once Michael had walked away. He was short, but he had wide shoulders and had a bit of build to him.

Luke furrowed his eyebrows, “What do you mean?” Andy hadn’t really done anything wrong.

“You got stuck with Michael Clifford. I mean, no one wants to be with him,” Luke must have kept looking at him weird because he continued, “He’s obviously queer.”

Luke looked away to where Michael was putting his catchers gear on. He took off his cap to flip it backwards as he put on his catchers helmet and Luke could see that his hair was actually bright red.

“Just look at his hair,” Andy continued, and at that point Luke had had enough. He gave Andy a small, fake chuckle to satisfy his ignorance and walked away.

The catchers walked back clad in only the helmet and chest protectors since this wasn’t the real thing and lined up on the foul line. The pitchers were placed several feet away accordingly. Michael kneeled down on the line and held out his glove, waiting for the pitch. Luke threw a couple balls, nothing special, just to get him warmed up.

Coach Roy then came out with the radar gun to measure the speed of the pitch. He stood behind Michael and pointed it at Luke, “Alright kid, let’s see what you’ve got.”

Luke took a deep breath and spun the ball on his fingertips behind his back where his hand was perched. He kept an eye on Michael’s glove the entire time he straightened up and moved the ball into his glove. He brought his knee up for momentum and guided the ball behind his head and then brought it forward with all his strength. The ball hit Michael’s glove a little too far to the left, but it was a good hard pitch, faster than the ones he had been throwing earlier. Michael’s eyes widened a bit in surprise when he caught the ball, like he wasn’t expecting such a hard throw. He took off his helmet and looked at Coach Roy.

“How fast was that?” Michael asked.

Coach Roy stared at the radar gun a little longer than necessary, until he finally said, “Eighty-five,” Michael gaped at Coach Roy and both turned their heads to look at Luke. At this point Andy and the other pitcher had stopped and were also talking amongst themselves.

Coach Roy asked him to do a few more pitches and he did. He was still reeling from the comments Andy had made earlier, but they just motivated him to throw a little bit harder. He threw a few eighty fours and a handful of eighty six’s, most were in the strike zone or just a bit off. 

Coach Roy finally put the radar gun down and asked,“What’s your name, kid?” 

“Luke. Hemmings.”

“Where are you from Luke?”

“I’m from Chicago, I moved here a couple weeks ago.”

“And what are you doing here in Springville?”

“My dad’s work transferred him here and my mom works at the school.”

“Well, it’ll be nice to have you on the team.”

Luke grinned, “Thank you, sir.”

Coach Roy moved on to Andy and said, “Let’s see if you can beat that, Miller,” Andy just rolled his eyes and pitched. He was good, but not as good as Luke, his pitches were mostly in the mid seventies.

When Coach Roy walked away, Michael strolled up to him with a very excited grin on his face. He stopped right in front of Luke and said, “We haven’t had a pitcher throw anywhere near eighty five since Anthony Jackson two years ago. And based on what I’ve seen you’re way more consistent than he was.”

Luke smiled, Michael had a very happy and excited tone to his voice and Luke was endeared, “Thank you.”

“We might actually have a chance at district this year!” Michael whispered so only Luke could hear, Michael glanced away and the smile was wiped from his face. He turned and went back to the foul line. Luke looked to the side and noticed Andy watching, he gave him a smirk and turned around and threw another pitch.

\---

After tryouts had ended that day Luke walked back into the building, he looked for his mother’s classroom number which wasn’t hard to find since it was a pretty small school. 

“Hey, Mom,” Luke said as he walked in, his mother was sitting at the teacher’s desk probably grading quizzes. She looked up when he entered.

“Hey honey, how were tryouts? Ready to go?”

“Yep,” Luke said and she started to pack her things, “Tryouts were great, it’s only the first day and I already made the team.”

“Well that’s not a surprise, you’re amazing. Any new friends?”

“Not really, well, there is this one kid, the catcher, his name’s Michael. He seemed nice.”

\---

The second day of tryouts ran smoothly. First cuts had already been made, so the group was already getting smaller. This time they’d split up Freshman, JV, and Varsity. Coach Roy had them do several infield drills until he decided to see how well they batted.

Varsity players went to the batting cages, while JV and Freshman stayed and worked on fundamental skills. They went in one at a time. Coach Roy would feed in balls into the pitching machine and the players would swing away. The point wasn’t to hit a good ball into the top of the net, the point was to hit as many balls as you could, doesn’t matter where it goes. A coach doesn’t want a player who could hit a few good fly balls and then strike out every other time. A coach wants a player who could keep the game running and and hit RBI’s.

They lined up in number order. A few guys that Luke didn’t know that well went up first. The rest of them huddled around the outside of the net and cheered. There was good camaraderie within the group, everyone got excited when a player would get a good hit or reassure them when they didn’t. But then it was Michael’s turn to bat.

The vibe that the group gave off completely changed. They continued cheering as Michael moved through the crowd to get into the cage, but that was probably and act to get Coach Roy off their backs. Luke could tell that they shoved him a little too hard, and the pats that they gave Michael’s helmet made him flinch. Michael finally made it into the cage and positioned himself in the batter's box. Coach Roy placed the ball into the machine and Michael pulled his knee up as the ball shot out the other end. He swung and hit the ball straight down and it bounced on the ground until it hit the protective net that Coach Roy was standing behind.

“Little harder next time, Mike,” Andy taunted from outside the cage. There were a few chuckles from the other players watching.

Luke watched as Michael tightened his grip on the bat and kept staring straight ahead. He hit another ball and this time it sailed and hit the back of the cage.

“There you go, looks like you’re finally seeing straight,” said Andy, this got a bigger chorus of laughs. Luke looked back to where Coach Roy was standing to see if he would do something, but he was either too far away and the pitching machine was too loud or he just didn’t care.

Michael looked a little more annoyed, but he shook it off. This time when the pitch came, Michael swung, but the ball sailed past the bat and hit the back of the cage. Many ‘oooh’s came from the surrounding players and Luke internally flinched.

Andy saw his chance to humiliate Michael even further, “Ouch, a swing and a miss. It’s alright guys, we all know Michael can’t seem to swing for the right side.”

This time everyone laughed. It got Coach Roy’s attention and he called out, “What was that, Miller?”

“Nothing, Coach. Just some team bonding going on back here,” Andy choked out between laughs.

It continued on that way. Every swing Michael got, Andy had a snide remark for it. Once Michael was done Andy walked in, he strolled right up to Michael and said to him in a low voice, “C’mon Michael, you swing like a girl, oh wait,” Then he snatched the bat out of his hands and pushed passed Michael.

Luke was standing outside the opening since he was up next and he heard the entire exchange. Michael unstrapped his gloves aggressively and started making his way out of the cage.

“Michael,” Luke started, but stopped because he had no idea what to say next. He barely knew Michael, there was nothing for him to say. Michael just stepped passed him and kept walking.

\---

Third and final day of tryouts came and went. Coach Roy had them scrimmage. JV against Varsity while Freshman went to the batting cages and finished early.

The game started and JV had bat first. Michael was the catcher and Luke was the starting pitcher. Michael came up to him before Varsity walked out onto the field.

“I assume you know the hand signals,” Michael said to Luke as he slipped his chest protector over his head.

“Yeah, I mean I wouldn’t be a very good pitcher if I didn’t,” Luke said as he adjusted his cap.

“No, no you wouldn’t,” Michael said with a smile.

They ran out onto the field and Luke took his spot at the pitchers mound. He shook out his arm and shoulders and got a few practice throws in. Michael was good. Doesn’t matter where the ball went, his glove always found it, and occasionally when the ball would drop to far in front of the plate, he was not afraid to use his chest to block the ball from slipping behind him.

The first batter came up to the box. Eric was behind Michael acting as umpire. The game started and Luke stood up with his feet apart, one foot on the pitchers rubber and the other a step away, facing the opposing team's dugout. Luke looked at Michael and waited for his signal. Michael paced his hand between his thighs and put down one finger. A simple fastball, easy start. Luke went through his pitching motions and the ball sailed straight down the strike zone. The hitter swung and missed and the ball landed safely in Michael’s glove.

The ball was thrown back to Luke and he went back to his starting position. He looked at Michael, and Michael put down one finger, then put down three. A fastball away. Same pitch as before, only this time the ball would be towards the outside of the strike zone. 

Luke threw the ball, but he overshot it just a bit and the ball ended up way too far outside the strike zone. Michael threw it back and this time he put out four fingers, a changeup. Slower than a fastball, to throw the hitter off rhythm. 

Luke threw the ball and the hitter swung far too early, but he caught the ball with the end of his bat and the ball sailed out of the field. A foul ball, but still considered a strike. One more, and the batter’s out. 

Eric gave Michael a new ball which he threw to Luke, and crouched back down in his position. He threw out two fingers this time. A curveball, it was like a fastball, but it was supposed to drop right as it got to the plate. Luke threw it, but it was too low and Michael had to drop to his knees to stop it. He threw it back and put out two fingers again. Luke wasn’t sure if it was the right call to pitch the same ball twice in a row, but he was at two balls and two strikes, it was a good risk. Luke threw the ball and the batter fell for it. He swung, but the ball dropped right into Michaels mitt. He’s out.

His teammates in infield cheered and Michael threw a fist up. Even through the wires of his helmet he could see that Michael was smiling. 

The game went on. Varsity beat JV which was no surprise. The score was three to one and Luke only allowed five hits. It was a little boring for the infielders, so Coach Roy decided to give him a break and put Andy on the mound in the fifth inning. 

It was nice how Michael and Luke connected. Michael knew the game well and knew which calls were the right ones. Luke trusted him, catchers were pretty observant and they were the closest to the hitter and were able to predict movements. Michael struggled catching for Andy. He would give Andy whatever signal he had decided on, then Andy would just shake his head. Michael would shake his hand for emphasis, but Andy would pitch whatever he’d want. JV got their run that way. Andy had let two batters walk, then he threw a ball that was too high and it clipped the top of Michael’s glove before hitting the net behind him. Michael was forced to chase after it, but by the time he got it the runners had already moved on to third and second. Then the next batter was able to hit a ground ball between shortstop and third basemen and the runner at third made it home. 

The game ended and everyone gathered in the dugout as they took their stuff away. Michael went to the cooler at one end of the dugouts and poured a cup of water. Luke followed him to get a drink himself. Michael turned around and right as he was about to take a sip Andy appeared out of nowhere and snatched the cup from his hands.

“Thanks,” Andy said and drank the water in a single gulp, then threw the plastic cup somewhere on the ground next to him. 

Michael just clenched his jaw and walked away. Luke wondered why Michael never said anything back. Why Michael would just stand there and take it. He let it go and poured two cups of water from the cooler. He walked over to where Michael was sitting on the bench, unstrapping his shin guards. Luke sat next to Michael and when Michael looked up, Luke offered him the water. 

Michael hesitantly took it, “Thank you.”

“No problem. Good game today.”

“Thanks, you too, everything I called for, you either did it or attempted it, and I appreciate you for it,” Michael took a sip of his water.

“I trust that you know what you’re doing,” Luke said and started to unlace his own cleats.

“Thanks for that. I meant what I said when I said that we might actually have a chance at districts this year with you. Maybe even going further than districts,” Michael said looking at Luke with those green eyes.

“You think so?”

“I do.”

Luke smiled, and Michael smiled back, then they both took their gear off in comfortable silence.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took so long, it's here though, enjoy! :)

Today was the day that Luke decided he would actually go to the cafeteria to eat lunch. He had been sitting in his mom’s classroom the past couple of weeks because he didn’t want to go into the cafeteria and sit by himself like the loner he was. At this point in the school year, everyone already had their designated spots where they sat next to their friends, Luke didn’t really have any, so he just chilled with his mom in her classroom. There was nothing wrong with that. But she did start getting a bit annoyed and a little worried.

“Don’t you have friends on the baseball team you can sit with?” She had asked one day.

Luke stopped mid bite and talked with his mouth full, “Yeah, but I don’t want it to be awkward when I just stand there looking for a place to sit.”

Liz just snorted, “It won’t be, why don’t you find that Michael you talked to me about?”

Luke thought about it. He wondered if Michael had friends to sit with or if the rest of the school treated him the way the baseball team does, “Why can’t I just stay here?”

“Because Luke. You need friends, and I can’t have you in here distracting me, it’s supposed to be my work and planning time,” Liz said as she pulled out a thick stack of papers ready to be graded.

“Am I really that distracting?” Luke asked after he took another bite.

Liz glared at him, “Stop talking with your mouth full. And yes, this counts as distracting,” she said pointing between Luke and herself.

Luke just rolled his eyes and started to gather his things, “Fine, but if I become the subject of social ridicule, I’m blaming you.”

“Good luck, honey,” Liz said.

Luke started for the door, “Thanks, mom.”

\---

Luke was so close to turning back around so many times on his way to the cafeteria. He made a few wrong turns and got himself lost, but he finally managed to find the cafeteria. The doors were closed and most people were already seated. This would be even worse than he imagined because it’s the middle of lunch. Hopefully everyone’s too distracted to notice him slipping in. Luke pushed the door open and walked in.

It was loud, as expected. Nobody noticed him which made Luke let out a sigh of relief. He started weaving through the oddly placed tables looking for a familiar face. It was a small school, so basically everyone was jammed into this even smaller room. He noticed a couple kids he had classes with, but none that he actually talked to.

Then he made it toward the back of the cafeteria and spotted a couple players from the baseball team. He felt relieved as he started walking toward them, and a few noticed and called for him. He smiled. Andy was sitting there with the other catcher, Josh. The first baseman, Joey, and the freshman center field, Matty.

Luke was halfway there when he noticed a shock of red out of the corner of his eye. Luke turned his head and there was Michael, a few tables away. He was sitting by himself, his nose buried away in his homework. 

Luke stopped walking. His heart rate picked up like it always did when he was forced to make a difficult decision. The baseball team was watching and already calling his name, but Michael was alone. He heart felt heavy for him. So the other kids do treat him like the baseball team does. They isolate him and make him feel like he doesn’t belong. Luke remembers first coming out to his friends back home. Some turned their back on him even though they’d known him for years. Others treated him like he was just confused. And his real friends loved him for who he was.

Luke looked back at the baseball team one more time. Andy was glaring at him, like he knew what Luke was thinking. In the end, Luke chose Michael. Because he knew that if he was stuck in the same situation, he wouldn't want to go through it alone.

Luke walked up to Michael and set his lunchbox down. Michael’s attention was taken away from his homework and his pencil stopped mid equation as Luke sat down across from him.

Michael stared at Luke for a good ten seconds and the first thing out of his mouth was, “No.”

Luke’s eyebrows furrowed, “I just sat down.”

“I don’t care. You can’t sit there,” Michael dropped his pencil. He looked a bit panicked and kept looking between Luke and the baseball team. Luke refused to look in their direction, he had an idea about what their reactions might look like.

“What? Is this seat reserved for your imaginary friend?”

Luke tried to sound sarcastic and playful, but it might have come out sounding mean. Michael leaned away from him and his mouth was open as if he was about to say something, but he stayed silent and Luke internally flinched.

“I’m sorry, that sounded rude. Look, I saw you sitting alone, and I thought you might want a friend.”

Michael regained his composure and crossed his arms. An aggravated look painted his face, “No.”

“What?” Luke asked. He was starting to get irritated. Michael’s said three things to him and two of them were ‘No’.

“Listen,” Michael leaned forward and placed his hands on the table. His face softened and he started whispering, “I know you’re new here, but this is a small, racist town. Everyone here is cis, straight, and white. It fucking sucks, I’m giving you a chance to walk away, I suggest you take it.”

Luke stared at him then started shaking his head, “I’m not leaving, and I’m definitely not sitting next to those assholes,” he nodded at the baseball table.

“Fine, suit yourself,” Michael just sighed, but he had a small smile on his face. He pointed at Luke with his pencil “Oh and you do have to move though, that’s Calum’s spot.”

“Who’s Calum?”

“Hey Mikey, sorry I’m late,” a voice behind Luke called out, “Who’s this?”

Luke turned around, behind him was a tall boy, he had brown skin and curly black hair. Luke stared at him in surprise. Luke hadn’t noticed before, but Calum was the first brown person he had seen at school.

“Hey Cal,” Michael said, Luke teared his eyes away from Calum to look at Michael, “This is Luke, he’s new.”

Calum sat down next to Luke and stuck his hand out, “Hey Luke, I’m Calum.”

Luke shook his hand and let out an awkward, “Hey.”

Michael laughed, “You can stop staring now.”

Luke snapped his attention to Michael, “Sorry, it’s just you’re the first-” Luke stopped, he didn’t know how to word it without being offensive.

He didn’t have to, Calum knew exactly what he meant to say, “Person of color you’ve seen here? Yeah, not many of us here. Though us minorities tend to stick together.” He stuck out his fist to Michael. Michael rolled his eyes and obliged. 

“Ha. Ha. It’s literally just you and me.” Michael said.

“It’s true, though,” Calum said, and he started picking at his own sandwich. Michael just rolled his eyes again.

There was a bit of an awkward silence, so Luke broke it by saying the dumbest thing possible, “So, where are you from?” Luke internally punched himself. That was a really white thing to ask. Calum laughed like he knew what Luke was thinking, “Sorry, you don’t have to answer that.”

“It’s okay. My dad’s scottish, but my mom is Māori. That’s who I got my fabulous brown skin from.”

“Cool.” Luke laughed.

“Wait,” Calum said, “You’re the Luke. The new pitcher Michael hasn’t shut up about.”

Luke looked back at Michael, Michael blushed and said to Calum, “Shut up,” then he buried his head back in his homework.

Calum laughed, “He says you’re amazing.”

“Meh,” Luke said and started to unpack his lunch. He often got insecure and shy when people commented him.

“Oh shut up,” Michael said, homework forgotten, “You’re fucking amazing.”

“Thanks,” Luke laughed awkwardly.

Michael noticed how uncomfortable Luke was getting, so he decided to change the subject, “Calum’s a soccer player. He pretty fucking amazing too.”

“Aw, thanks Mike. But yeah, we’re not in season right now, but Springville does have a pretty good soccer team.” Calum says.

“Because of you.”

“Thanks Mikey.”

Luke liked this. He liked how easy they talked to each other. How they weren’t scared to compliment each other. They obviously loved each other as friends and Luke longed for that. Maybe he might be able to get the kind of friendship he craved for with them.

“What are you working on?” Luke asked once Michael had refocused on his homework.

Michael looked up and gave him an over exaggerated look of annoyance, “Ugh, math. Fucking logarithms.” 

“Logarithms? I thought you were a junior.” Logarithms were part of algebra, juniors usually took geometry.

“I’m a year behind,” Michael said sheepishly, “I failed algebra one my freshman year. I’m trying to do better because if I’ve got bad grades, I can’t play. But algebra two is so much harder. Math in general is hard,” Michael sighed and leaned his head on his hand.

“I can help,” Luke said, then he felt a little embarrassed when Michael looked up at him, “I mean only if you want.”

“Really?” Michael asked.

“Yeah and if I can’t help, my mom can. She’s a math teacher here.”

“You’re Mrs. Hemmings’ kid?” Calum asked. Luke nodded, ”I have her for third period, she’s hilarious. She said you were going to play baseball here. She’s talks about you all the time.”

“Aw.” Michael said.

“Shut up,” Luke muttered.

Michael let it go then refocused back on his homework. Suddenly he dropped his shoulders like he was giving up, “Well you can start by helping me now,” Michael flipped his notebook so Luke could see, then pointed to a problem, “How the fuck do I solve this?”

\---

“How was school today?” Liz asked when Luke had walked by her classroom after baseball practice.

“It was great. Michael’s coming over for dinner later,” Luke said, “I’m helping him with his math.”

Liz looked up, “Really? That’s great! He’s the catcher right?”

“Yeah, I also met this other kid named Calum. He says he’s in your third period.”

Liz thought about it, “Yes! He’s a quiet kid. Usually keeps to himself.”

“Yeah. I think he has a tough time, because of his skin color.”

“What?” Liz looked surprised.

“I sat with him at lunch today. The kids here are so rude...and racist. He was telling me these different stories of what him and other dark skinned kids go through. Most people are quiet about it, but some people are not afraid to yell things directly to his face. A fight broke out one time, during a soccer match. They’d just lost the game and when they were walking back inside the locker room, a kid grabbed Calum by the back of the jersey and yelled a slur at him.”

“Did he fight back?” Liz asked. She looked at him with a shocked expression.

“Calum tried to shove him off, but they guy had a firm hold. Luckily, Calum’s teammates had his back. They managed to pull the guy off before things got bad. Dude was arrested, but got off with a warning.”

“And Calum?”

“They told him to ignore it.”

“That poor kid,” Liz sighed. She wrapped her arm around Luke’s waist and Luke put his over her shoulder, “I understand why you wanted to keep your sexuality a secret. I thought you were over exaggerating, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, mom.” Luke squeezed her and they walked out together.

\---

Michael showed up later that night. Luke was scrambling all over the place trying to get his room to look at least a little bit presentable. He had refused to unpack and now regretted that decision because there were boxes all over his floor. He was in the middle of unpacking his CD collection when the doorbell rang.

“I got it!” He yelled. He took the steps two at a time. He side-stepped between several boxes that were still scattered over the house because his parents also refused to unpack. He opened the front door to reveal Michael with his shock of red hair and goofy grin on his face.

“Hi,” Michael said.

“Hey, come in.” Luke smiled and waved him in. Michael followed him through the hallway and into the kitchen where his mom and dad were busy cooking dinner, “Hey mom, dad, this is Michael. He’s the catcher on the baseball team.”

“Hello, sweetie,” Liz said and wiped her hands on her apron. She held out her hand, “Nice to meet you.”

“You too, Mrs. Hemmings,” Michael said as she shook her hand. 

Andy also turned from where he was chopping onions and offered his hand as well. Luke said, “We’re gonna go study in my room. Call us when dinner’s ready?”

“Absolutely,” Liz said.

Michael and Luke walked up into Luke’s room and Michael set his stuff on the floor and sat down at the foot of Luke’s bed. He looked around, checking out Luke’s things.

“Sorry about the mess,” Luke said, gesturing to the boxes.

“It’s okay,” Michael said, he caught sight of the box Luke had been unpacking earlier, “No way! All Time Low? Bad Suns?” He let out an over dramatic gasp. He got off the bed and sat on the floor. He held up an album for Luke to see, “Marianas Trench?”

Luke laughed and sat down next to Michael, “Yeah, I love collecting CD’s. I don’t even have a CD player, I just love having the physical copy.”

“This is so cool!” Michael said and took out a few more albums. He looked up at Luke, then noticed something behind him and let out another horrified gasp, “You’re a Cubs fan?”

Luke glared playfully at Michael, he had a feeling he knew what was coming next.

“We can’t be friends anymore,” Michael said trying to keep a straight face, but failing and giggling uncontrollably.

“Fuck off, you’re a Mets fan!” Luke said. He’d seen the hat that Michael kept in his baseball bag. Luke had intended to use it for blackmail later, but now was a good time. He had to defend his honor.

Michael gasped for the hundredth time that night and put a hand to his chest like he was offended, “They’re the best team in the country!”

“Oh please! They’re so overrated. They haven’t won a world series championship since the eighties.” Luke said.

“Oh whatever,” Michael waved him off, he was still trying to control his giggling, ”But seriously? The Cubs?”

“In my defence. I did grow up in Chicago.” Luke said.

“Alright. Alright,” Michael put his hands up in defeat. He turned to look at his backpack. The reason he was here in the first place coming back to him. 

Luke noticed and stood up, stretching out a hand to help Michael up, “Math time.”

Michael took his hand and sighed, “Fucking logarithms.”

\---

They were called down to dinner an hour later. Michael was spent. He had a headache and Luke’s throat ached from talking so much. Michael wasn’t horrible at math, he just needed a more detailed explanation on how to solve these problems. By the time they were called, Michael was able to solve a couple problems from his worksheet by himself. It wasn’t an amazing achievement, but it was a start. They walked together into the kitchen where Liz and Andy were waiting for them.

“How was studying?” Liz asked once they situated themselves at the dinner table. Liz and Andy on one side, Michael and Luke on the other.

“Good,” Luke said.

“Great,” Michael said, “Luke is amazing at math, it blows my mind.”

Andy laughed, “He gets it from his mother. She’s a math wizard. She passed those genes to Luke. Just him though, Ben and Jack are terrible at math.”

Michael looked at him quizzically. Luke spoke up, “Ben and Jack are my older brothers.”

“You have brothers?” Michael asked.

“Yeah, they’re older.”

“What about you, honey?” Liz asked. She was using a soft, kind voice. Her teacher voice.

“It’s just me. I wish I had siblings though. It gets kind of lonely.” Michael said. Looking down, embarrassed.

“It’s not all that glamorous,” Luke elbowed Michael’s side, “Jack and I used to share a room. We had bunk beds and one time he dared me to jump off the top bunk and try to land on the bottom bunk. I missed and broke my arm.”

They all laughed. Liz said, “I remember that. You didn't even cry! We heard the thump all the way from downstairs, then all we heard was Jack screaming. Apparently he saw your arm all bent out of shape and started panicking. I think you were in shock the entire ride to the hospital.”

They all laughed some more, then Andy spoke up, “So Michael, Luke’s told us a lot about you. Says you’re one of the best catchers he’s ever seen.”

Luke and Michael both blushed. Michael stammered, “Well, I don’t-I’m not-” 

Andy laughed, “I’m very excited to see you boys play. I heard it hasn’t gone well for Springville in the last couple of years.”

Michael sighed, “Not at all. We went two and eighteen last season. We just...couldn’t get it together. We have a few good batters who can hit four hundred, but our offense sucks. Our starting pitcher last year was...mediocre,” Luke laughed and Michael continued, “But we have Luke now.”

“You think he’ll start?” Andy asked.

“Absolutely. I’ve never seen a pitcher like him before,” Michael looked at Luke, “He’s amazing.”

Luke smiled at him, blushing.

\---

“Thanks for helping me with my homework.” Michael said. 

They were standing in the hallway before the front door. Michael was getting ready to leave. They’d finished dinner a while ago. They’d talked about baseball at dinner, and other things to get to know Michael better. Then Luke and Michael had gone back upstairs to finish their homework. They’d goofed off for a while until it was time for Michael to get home.

“No problem. Any time,” Luke said, he opened the door for Michael. 

Michael stepped out and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow at practice.”

He turned to leave, but Luke called out, “Wait,” Michael stopped and Luke stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind him, “I’ve been meaning to bring this up, but I’d forgotten about it.”

“What?” Michael asked. Luke’s tone had gotten serious and Michael’s expression morphed into nervousness.

“I just-I want to know why you let Andy and the rest of the guys push you around like that.”

Michael fell silent. He looked down at his feet and fiddled with the bracelets he wore, “It’s not worth fighting it anymore,” he glanced up at Luke, “When I first...came out, I used to fight back, but it all just made it worse. It got physical and I just-”

“Did they hit you?” Luke asked stepping a little closer and placing his hand on Michael’s arm.

“No! No...well, almost. I think they would’ve of if Coach Roy hadn’t walked in. They just shoved me against the lockers. I stopped fighting back after that. I was terrified. I don’t want that to happen again. It doesn’t bother me as much as it did anymore. Everything Andy says to me, is not something I haven’t heard a hundred times before.”

“I’ll say something next time.” Luke said.

“No, you don’t have to. I don’t want to drag you into this mess.”

“Michael, we’re supposed to be a team. We’re supposed to treat each other like brothers, doesn’t matter who you are.”

“You can try Luke, but this is Springville. It’s just another shithole city.” Michael chuckled, “I’ll see you tomorrow. Tell your mom I said thank you for dinner.”

“I will, see you.” And with that Michael walked off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading, follow me on tumblr @dontpanicmuke


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait, but here it is! enjoy :)

The season started off with a home game against the Oakland Tigers, one if their rival schools. They’d gone into the locker room after school to change and Luke could tell that everyone had pre-game jitters. 

Over the past couple of weeks, Luke had gotten to know all the players. He’d had a hard time actually enjoying their company. Most of them hung around Andy and typically followed his lead, but there were a few players who didn’t agree with him. There was Matty, he was the freshman center field who was shy and everyone basically treated him like the baby of the group. Matty had a high batting average and was fast. Luke knew the feeling of being the youngest among upperclassmen. Two years ago, at his old school, he made Varsity as a freshman. He remembered being terrified, until a senior started talking to him and included him in all the activities the team would do. At times, Matty would just awkwardly stand around, not really knowing who to talk too, so Luke would approach him and talk to him during practices. 

Then there was Jack, the second baseman. He hung out with Andy occasionally, but sometimes when he was annoyed, or he noticed that Andy had taken it way too far, he’d call him out. Luke appreciated him for it, but he wishes he would more.

Luke was changing with some of the other players in the locker room when Michael walked in. He kept his eyes down and headed straight for his locker which was a few down from Luke’s.

“Hey,” Luke greeted when Michael had opened his locker. 

Michael looked up at him and gave him a small smile, “Hi,” he seemed to be in a rush.

Michael grabbed his uniform from his bag and shut his locker, then started to walk toward the bathroom stalls. At the same time Andy walked around the corner and they bumped into each other. Andy smiled wickedly as Michael cringed away.

“Woah there, Mike. What are you doing in here?” Andy taunted. He was the only person who’d call Michael ‘Mike’ and he never used it playfully, “Peeping?”

Michael tried to walk past him, but Andy kept cutting him off, “I’m just trying to go change,” Michael said when he’d had enough.

“What? You don’t like what you see?” Andy asked and put his hands and his hips. Luke was watching the entire exchange from his locker. He thought that if Andy wasn’t such an asshole he might actually be attractive.

Luke walked up behind Michael, “Dude,” Luke said, he’d gotten both Michael and Andy’s attention. He and crossed his arms to try and show off his broadness. He was taller and bigger than Andy and it showed that Andy was intimidated, “Move.”

Andy just rolled his eyes and walked away. Michael turned around with a grin on his face and lightly punched his shoulder, “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Luke said, blushing a little and feeling warm.

\---

The game went well. Luke started off pitching. No one managed to score on him. Michael also made an amazing play. It was the third inning and there had been two outs and a runner on first base who Luke had walked. The runner started to lead off the base, and Luke had decided to pitch the ball instead of turning and trying to snag him at first. The runner sprinted toward second base as soon as Luke let go of the ball and Michael caught the pitch as the hitter swung and missed. He stood up and threw the ball to second as fast as he could, Luke had to duck out of the way and Jack caught the ball and tagged the runner out with plenty of time. 

There was a whole celebration and everyone patted Michael’s back as they walked back the dugout. Calum was there screaming his head off when Michael made that play. There was also another curly haired kid cheering beside him.

The game went on, in the fifth inning Luke and Michael took a break. Coach Roy put Andy and Josh at the mound and plate. Luke and Michael had a chance to relax and watch the rest of the game from the dugout. They were already ahead six to none, so unless Andy really screwed it up, they were winning this game.

“Who’s that sitting next to Calum?” Luke asked Michael as they leaned against the railing of the dugout.

Michael glanced in the direction Calum was sitting and said, “That’s Ashton, he’s a year above us. Calum has a ginormous crush on him.”

“Really?” Luke laughed, he ignored the fact that Calum is probably gay too, “How do you guys know each other?”

“We were all in the same music class two years ago. We all became super close. We sometimes jam out together. Cal on bass, Ash on drums, and I play guitar.”

“You’re in a band?” Luke asked astonished. That had been his dream as a kid, other than becoming a baseball player .

“Yeah? I wouldn’t really call it band though, we sort of do it for fun. You play right? I saw the guitar case in your room the other day.”

“I do, it’s been a while though.” 

“You want to come next time?” Michael asked looking up at him.

“I-yeah, that would be awesome.”

“Cool.”

Luke looked down, smiling at himself, “So are you, Calum, and Ashton-are you all…”

“Gay?” Michael asked laughing a little at Luke’s blush. He continued when Luke nodded, “Me and Cal are, Ashton’s pan. Looks like you’re the only one in the group who’s straight.”

Luke’s heart started to race. He’d thought about coming out to Michael for the longest time. For some reason when he had the chance, he always stopped himself. It’s not like Michael or Calum would judge him. Maybe it was the fact that living in this town was hard enough. Being bisexual would be even harder. But that was stupid, Michael would keep his secret. He took a deep breath, we was doing this, “Well-”

“Luke!” Coach Roy called out before he could say anything else, “You’re up at bat.”

Luke turned away from Michael, but not without seeing the look of shock on his face. Maybe he did get his point across. His heart was still going a hundred miles an hour, but he told himself to breath as he put on his helmet and strapped on his gloves.

Luke was walked and the game ended when the batter after him was struck out. There was still a celebration because they’d won the first game of the season. Oakland had placed second in districts last year. And when the Griffins played them last year, they had lost in the seventh inning instead of the ninth due to the mercy rule, where the game ends when the team is ahead by ten runs after the losing team tries to catch up.

The teams shook hands and they all gathered their things. The Griffins went back into their dugout and huddled around their coach.

“Great game boys,” Coach Roy started, “We have an amazing season ahead of us. I could tell as soon as the game started. I just want to say that I’m very proud of what you’ve done here today. Go home and rest up, we have another game tomorrow.”

As soon as Coach ended his mini speech the team erupted in cheers. Everyone was excited for the season to come. 

After he’d packed his stuff up, Michael approached Luke, “Hey, me, Cal, and Ash are going out to a local diner to celebrate. You wanna come? Ash is driving.”

Luke grinned, “I’d love too, let me just talk to my parents real quick and I’ll meet you guys in the parking lot.”

Michael nodded and walked away to meet with Calum and Ashton. Luke headed over to his parents and his mom hugged him and his dad gave him a hard pat on the back. 

“You did so well, honey,” Liz complimented.

“You and Michael make a great team,” Andy said, “He really is a great catcher.”

“The best. Thanks for coming. Michael invited me out with his friends to go eat dinner. Is that alright?”

“Of course. I’m so happy you’ve made new friends...do they know?” Liz asked.

Luke looked around self-consciously, making sure no one could overhear them, “I think Michael might, I was saying something to him about it, but I was cut off. Michael’s gay.”

“We know,” Andy said. 

“What?” Luke furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

Andy’s expression hardened, “There was this group of boys sitting behind home plate. They were yelling offensive things at Michael during the game. He mostly ignored them. No one did anything to stop them, except two boys who were sitting behind them.”

“That was probably Calum and Ashton, they’re Michael’s friends. I had no idea,” Luke said, he looked around and noticed a large group of guys being loud and obnoxious. He assumed it was them because he recognized a few, and then he noticed Andy amongst them and he was no longer surprised.

“You couldn’t have heard them, you were all the way at the pitchers mound,” His father said and rubbed his shoulder, he smiled and remembered that there were people waiting for him.

“I have to go, I’ll see you at home,” Luke hugged his dad and kissed his mom’s cheek.

“Luke,” His mom said before he could pull away from her grasp, “Michael’s pretty cute.”

“Mom!” Luke whined.

“I’m kidding,” She laughed, “Not really though. Go, have fun.”

Luke just shook his head, a smile on his lips, “Bye.”

\---

He met up with Michael, Calum, and Ashton at the parking lot. They were all crowding around an old Taurus. Michael noticed him first and called out to him.

“Hey!” He said. The group turned to look at him as he approached.

“Hello,” Ashton said once Luke had reached them. He held out his hand, “I’m Ashton.”

“Hey, nice to meet you,” Luke said.

“We’re gonna head to Freddie’s, ever been?” Calum asked.

“Nope.”

“Awesome, this will be a treat, let’s go.”

They all piled into Ashton’s car. Ashton driving, Calum in the passenger seat, and Luke and Michael in the back. Ashton was blaring The Used with the windows rolled down and they were all screaming out the lyrics. Luke had never felt this carefree in his life. He doesn’t know what he would have done if he’d never met these guys.

They finally pulled into the parking lot of a fifties themed diner. They walked in and sat in a booth towards the back. Luke started asking them questions to get to know them better.

“How long have you guys known each other?”

Calum answered, “Me and Mikey have been friends since we were like six years old.”

Michael laughed and threw a salt packet at Calum’s head, “God, for more than ten years I’ve had to deal with you.

Calum laughed too, and swatted the packet away, “Shut up, you love me. Ashton joined our little group two years ago.”

“And you play the drums right?” Luke asked directing the question to Ashton, “Michael was telling me about your band.”

Ashton let out a giggle, “I do. We’re not really a band though, we just mess around from time to time.”

Michael let out an offended noise, “We are though, we have a name and everything.”

“You picked it out without telling anybody, so it doesn’t really count. We don’t even have a decent singer,” Calum said.

Ashton put his arm around Calum’s shoulders and said, “Aw, Cal. You’re an amazing singer.”

Calum blushed, “Shut up.”

“I bet Luke can sing.” Michael said. They all turned to Luke and he suddenly felt nervous.

“I’m not great,” Luke said, feeling a blush coming on.

“Oh please, I’ve heard you sing songs in the locker room when you think no one’s listening,” Michael scoffed. Then blushed when he realized that he just admitted that he secretly listened to Luke sing.

Both Calum and Ashton burst out laughing, then Ashton said, “You should come to out next jam session. Michael said you also play guitar.”

“I do, I’d love too.”

They waitress came by and took their orders. They all ordered burgers and fries. Michael took a bit longer to order.

“The milkshakes are huge here. I don’t think I could finish one by myself.”

“We could share,” Luke blurted out before he could stop himself, “I mean, if you want.”

Michael blushed and looked away from Luke, “O-Okay,” He looked up at the waitress, “One chocolate milkshake, please.”

The waitress walked away and their table fell into comfortable silence. Luke was about to open his mouth and say something when the door of the dinner opened and a large group of boys barged in. The diner was’t full, only their group and few couples here and there, but the diner started to feel crowded when the group entered.

Luke looked and noticed the baseball tees first and he was kind of happy to see other teammates here, but then he recognized Andy’s loud voice and the smile was wiped from his face. They made a ruckus, moving tables and chairs to seat all of them. The air around Luke’s table grew tense for obvious reasons. 

Luke turned to Michael, “We don’t have to stay here.”

“It’s okay,” Michael said, keeping his eyes ahead, “It’s not fair that they get to ruin our night.”

“Are you sure, I know some of those guys were saying things behind the plate.”

Michael’s shoulders tensed and he looked up at Luke, “It’s fine, really.”

Ashton and Calum looked at each other, then Calum spoke up, “Me and Ash are gonna go pick a song, we’ll be right back.”

They left Luke and Michael alone at the table as they flipped through the song choices at an old fashioned jukebox.

Michael then turned his body to face Luke completely, “So, that things you were telling me back during the game. You’re not straight?”

Luke felt his cheeks heat up, “Uh no, I’m bi, actually,” It was relieving to finally let it out. He wanted to punch himself for not telling Michael sooner. 

“That’s cool. How did you figure it out?”

“Well, I think I’ve always known that I was. I dated a few girls in the past, but in the back of my head I knew that I wouldn’t really mind being with a guy.”

“You’ve never been with a guy before?” Michael asked.

“No, I never had the chance. I started getting busy with baseball and stuff, and I guess I just never really thought about dating. What about you? How did you know?”

Michael stayed quiet, then his eyes flickered to a spot over Luke’s shoulder. Luke turned and saw Andy and his friends. 

Luke drew a sharp intake of breath, “No,” he exhaled. He turned back to look at Michael who had his face in his hands.

“I know,” he said, voice muffled by his hands, “It was my freshman year, before I was outed. I just thought-I don’t know what I thought. He wasn’t always like that.”

Luke furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about what Michael said, “Wait. You were outed?” 

“Yeah, I wouldn’t just come out to a town like this. Not even Calum or Ash are out.”

“Who outed you?”

Michael’s eyes flickered back over Luke’s shoulders.

“Son of a bitch.”

“We used to be friends. Me, him, and Cal.”

“Son of a bitch,” Luke said exasperated.

“I thought I could trust him. It was the night of our first game. I’d made Varsity, while he made JV, he’d always been a little jealous. I invited him over to spend the night, it was just us since Calum was busy. We talked about the game, then the conversation obviously turned to girls, and I had a spark of bravery and I blurted it out. He didn’t say anything. Just packed up his things and left. The next day at practice, everyone knew. I think he made up a story about how I tried to come onto him.”

“Jesus Christ, Michael,” Luke said. Luke slid a comforting hand on his thigh.

Michael just stared at him and shrugged his shoulders, “It happened two years ago. It’s okay. I’m fine. Nothing drastic has happened.”

“Yeah, but-” He was cut off when Michael’s eyes widened and he shoved Luke’s had from his thigh. He was about to ask what was wrong when he heard a voice speak up behind him.

“What’s up, fags.” Andy said. Luke turned and saw Andy lean against their table.

“What do you want?” Michael asked, his tone indifferent.

“What? Can’t I just congratulate my fellow teammates on the win?

They stayed silent.

“Jeez, am I interrupting a date or something? Should’ve known you’d be one too, Hemmings. You’re already halfway down Clifford’s pants.”

Luke stood up. He wasn’t really a fighter, but if a situation escalated, he wasn’t afraid to throw a punch.

“Ouch, did that hit a nerve?” Andy teasingly asked.

“Go back to your table.” Luke said.

“Or what?”

“You don’t want to know,” A voice behind Andy said. Andy turned and there was Calum and Ashton. Calum could be threatening if he wanted to. He was ripped and tall and had a face that told you to fuck off. Ashton was also pretty intimidating. He wasn’t as tall, but he had a protective aura.

“Can’t fight your own battles, Clifford?” Andy asked, turning to look at Michael, “Need your boy toys to fight them for you?”

Michael just sighed, “Just leave, Andy. You don’t want to cause a scene. Everyone’s watching.”

Andy looked around. Michael was right. The chatter had fallen silent. The waitresses and cooks had stopped what they were doing to watch. Andy snorted, “Whatever.”

He walked away and Luke let out a relieved sigh. They sat back down and the waitress came over to deliver their food. They ate in silence until Michael broke it.

“I’m sorry, for the things he said to you guys,” He said in a small voice.

“Don’t be, Mikey,” Calum said.

“Yeah, you never have to apologize for that asshole,” Ashton said.

Michael looked at Luke expectantly. Luke just smiled and slid his hand back up Michael’s thigh and slid the gigantic chocolate milkshake across the table with his free hand, “Milkshake?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on tumblr @dontpanicmuke

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading, be sure to follow me on tumblr @dontpanicmuke


End file.
